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August 28 - USL Toronto Lynx vs Virginia Beach [R]


Rocket Robin

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Result of the Sunday August 28th, 2005 USL game between Toronto Lynx and Virginia Beach Mariners played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke at 6:00pm.

43 min...Lynx Abraham Francois GOAL...Lynx Jamie Dodds sends in corner kick from right that has Francois leap in crowd of players and connect on header from 8 yards that's into right side of net with goalie Matt Nelson pinned in the center of his net.

82 min...Mariners Jakob Fenger GOAL...VBM Dave Castellanos has 30 yard shot into box from right that VBM Darren Caskey gets foot to and sends it forward on left from 12 yards and Fenger sends ball into right side of net from 5 yards on leaping header beyond goalie Theo Zagar.

Final Score:..........Toronto Lynx.............1............Virginia Beach Mariners...........1..........

Attendance was given in the press box as 1832 (but not announced on the PA system). With half the seats empty, I'd estimate there were 1100 people here. It was a hot humid evening.

The Lynx couldn't hold the lead again this week. The teams looked even in the first half but the Lynx were able to get a few break-ins on the Mariners defense but couldn't capitalize. They were hanging on in the last 15 minutes and that included after the tying goal when the Mariners almost scored the winner a few times in injury time. At 89 minutes, a Mariners 35 yard free kick Lynx goalie Zagar get his hand on the line to a 3 yard shot by Ptah Myers and kept it out of the net. At 90 minutes Mariners Darren Caskey's 35 yard freekick has a Lynx defender head the ball just over his own net. 91 minutes has Zagar punch away a corner kick from the left. Lynx Sean Fraser got the last shot of the game when he sidestepped a few defenders along the edge of the Mariners box and cut in a 12 yard shot from the right but the shot was smothered by the goalie. This late action was quite a contrast to the first half of the game when I had eight minutes of nothing worth writing down. It took 11 minutes for the first shot of the game when Mariners Hamisi Amani-Dove got in a weak 5 yard header at the Lynx goalie.

The tie effectively knocks the 11th place Mariners out of their slim chance at making the playoffs. The Lynx were eliminated a few games ago. It now looks like the Lynx will finish last for sure this season.

Rocket Robin

robin@eol.ca

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quote:Originally posted by Krammerhead

Can anybody tell me the actual capacity of the grandstand at Centennial? On this board I have heard numerous times it's 2,200, but some people insist it's 3,500.

I'd say its closer to 2,000 mayber 2,500 but theres no definitive answer. Its not big thats for sure.

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ya well the Lynx just played defense and left on guy up front. Sometimes Fraser and sometimes Motando. I guess Busby was content with a one goal lead..... not realizing that VB would be extreamly hungry for a win considering their playoff hopes. I guess the best player for the Lynx were Aristodemo or Dodds.

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quote:Originally posted by Breakwood

I'd say its closer to 2,000 mayber 2,500 but theres no definitive answer. Its not big thats for sure.

I found a definitive answer. From the Toronto parks page it quotes this:

quote:The 2,200-seat outdoor stadium boasts an internationally-sanctioned eight-lane, 400-metre track, regulation size football/soccer field, lighting for night play, an electronic P.A. and scoreboard system.

Just wanted to know. Some sites crazily say that it's a 5,000 seater, most say 3,500 but I assume those mean capacity not seating capacity.

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quote:Originally posted by Krammerhead

I found a definitive answer. From the Toronto parks page it quotes this:

Just wanted to know. Some sites crazily say that it's a 5,000 seater, most say 3,500 but I assume those mean capacity not seating capacity.

For the Cda vs. Mexico CONCACAF Women's Final many years back, they had something like 7k in there but they filled just about every inch of far side berm and hundreds sat on the track. That was definitely the biggest crowd in that place.

I do recall a Blizzard - 86'ers game in the CSL's final season (we did it on Rogers as TSN was out of the picture) and for that one the grandstand was packed and there were many hundreds on the berm. I'd guess there were 5k at that one.

BTW, Pesch single handedly took apart the 86'ers. It was one helluva an exciting game.

The sad thing is that the 2200 figure shows just how much the Blizzard and now the Lynx did inflate their figures. The Blizzard GM at the time told me that everyone else had been doing it so he felt they didn't have a choice. I dunno. Maybe but ..................

db

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Biggest crowd that I was ever part of at this stadium was the 4,625 that watched Canada and Norway tie 2 - 2 in a senior women's friendly in June 2002.

The grandstand was full as well as good portion of the berm. No way the grandstand holds more than 2200!

Really makes a mockery of some of the Lynx' announced attendances. I have only made it out to one game this year (lowest total in a few years for me) and it was the May 15 game against Montreal. The grandstand was no more than 75% full and they announced a crowd of over 3,500! Not sure how many people fit in that VIP beer tent at the north end but it does not look like it holds 2000!

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